* Image is for illustrative purposes only.The Toyotomi Family's Legendary Sword Policy
豊臣家の名刀政策
Through the Sword Hunt (katanagari) of 1588, Toyotomi Hideyoshi carried out the disarmament of farmers and monks. At the same time, he was known as an unprecedented collector of famous swords and used them to symbolize the authority of the unifier of the realm. The establishment of the meibutsu system, the relationship with the Hon'ami family, and the fall of the Toyotomi house after Hideyoshi's death triggered a large-scale redistribution of famous swords, forming a distinctive chapter in the cultural history of the Japanese sword.
Description
Sword Hunt and the Monopolization of Power
In 1588, Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued the "Sword Hunt Edict" and carried out a groundbreaking policy of confiscating weapons from farmers and from temples and shrines. The official reason was that the confiscated swords would be used to make nails and kasugai clamps for the construction of the Great Buddha, but the true aim was to complete the separation of warriors and farmers and to monopolize armed force in the hands of the samurai and daimyo class. In 1590, a similar order was also issued to the provinces of Dewa and Ōshū. This policy socially entrenched the notion that "the sword is the symbol of the samurai," and it greatly contributed to the establishment of an early-modern view of swords in which the Japanese sword functioned as "proof of samurai status."
Hideyoshi's Collection of Famous Swords
Hideyoshi himself, who had confiscated the swords of farmers through the sword hunt, was at the same time known as a great collector of famous historical swords. His collection included many renowned swords of long standing called meibutsu. Hideyoshi made Hon'ami Kōtoku a valued appraiser of swords (tōken kiwamedokoro) and entrusted him with the appraisal, management, and polishing of his collection, building a close relationship with the Hon'ami family. This relationship greatly promoted the systematization of sword appraisal and the development of the origami system (issuance of appraisal certificates).
Establishment of the Meibutsu System
"Meibutsu" refers to famous swords of long standing that were given a distinctive name or title (gō). In Hideyoshi's era, under the leadership of Hon'ami Kōtoku, origami certificates (appraisal documents) were issued for many swords, and the monetization of their value advanced. The "origami value" (the monetary amount recorded on the origami) came to be widely accepted as the standard of a sword's worth. Pricing itself had been practiced since the Muromachi period, and the name "Daihannya Nagamitsu" derives from an extraordinary valuation of 600 kan in coin given during the Muromachi period. In the Tokugawa period, under the orders of the eighth shogun Yoshimune, the Hon'ami family compiled the Kyōhō Meibutsuchō, and today the swords recorded in it are regarded as meibutsu in the narrow sense. The organization of meibutsu in Hideyoshi's era established the prototype of the evaluation system for Japanese swords as works of art and cultural property.
Korean Campaigns and Swords
During the Bunroku and Keichō campaigns (1592–1598), large numbers of Japanese swords were brought to the Korean Peninsula. At the same time, the cultural aspect of the forced relocation of Korean potters and craftsmen to Japan is also important; in particular, the ceramic techniques that the potters brought to various parts of Japan developed into later Hizen (Arita-yaki), Satsuma-yaki, and Hagi-yaki.
Sekigahara, the Siege of Ōsaka, and the Redistribution of Famous Swords
The Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and the Ōsaka campaigns of 1614–1615, which led to the fall of the Toyotomi house, brought about a large-scale redistribution of the vast collection of famous swords Hideyoshi had accumulated. Many of the famous swords that had been Toyotomi holdings became gyobutsu (treasures) of the Tokugawa house, and many were also bestowed as rewards on warlords who had distinguished themselves in battle. As a result of this redistribution, the group of famous swords that had been concentrated in one place in the Toyotomi era was scattered among daimyo and hatamoto houses across the country, and some of the famous swords now held by museums and art galleries throughout the country were transmitted by this route. The rise and fall of the Toyotomi house is positioned as one of the largest redistribution events in the history of the circulation of Japanese swords.
Characteristics of This Era
- Historical significance of the Katanagari edict (1588): completion of the separation of warriors and farmers and the social entrenchment of the idea that “sword = samurai.” The disarmament of farmers and of temples and shrines physically enforced the status hierarchy of Japanese society, making it a landmark policy.
- Systematization of the meibutsu system: through the institutional organization of origami certificates by Hon'ami Kōtoku, the value of famous swords was monetized and put into writing.
- Appointment of the Hon'ami family as sword appraisers: appraisal, polishing, and the issuance of origami were institutionalized as a public office. Sword appraisal was elevated from craftsmanship to “cultural authority,” and the infrastructure of early modern Japanese sword culture was put in place.
- Bestowal of famous swords by the unifier of the realm: Hideyoshi carried out on a large scale the custom of granting famous swords to commanders with distinguished military service, and famous swords functioned as a medium of political bonds. This greatly promoted the social circulation of swords.
- Large-scale redistribution of famous swords through the fall of the Toyotomi house: after the Siege of Osaka (1615), the dispersal of swords from the Toyotomi collection greatly changed where famous swords were located. Among works such as those by Yoshimitsu, some were fire-damaged in the Summer Campaign of Osaka, and there are also surviving examples re-tempered by the first Echizen Yasutsugu.